72 Quiescence

For a moment, it felt like the announcer was the only one in the Royal Arena. The once vigorous excitement that filled the entire arena had been replaced by profound silence. They had never seen this coming.

After several seconds of silence, the piercing sound of the bell jolted everyone back to their senses. As if everyone had already gotten over their shock, the chants and cheers filled the arena again.

"I wonder who is going to start the fight." Pan said as he began to stuff his mouth with some roasted plantain and peanuts.

Minyet and Ovandarrak turned to look at him in surprise, wondering where he had suddenly pulled out the food from.

"What?" Pan asked. "I'm hungry. Do you two want some?"

Ovandarrak shook his head in the negative while Minyet replied, "no, thank you."

They were more interested in the fighting match about to take place in front of them. Though the bell had rang a few seconds ago, no one was making any move. Instead, it seemed like several of the applicants had frozen in place.

"Why is no one moving?" Pan asked.

"I-" Before Minyet could say whatever was on her mind, more than two thirds of the applicants just dropped to the floor like weightless puppets.

For the second time that day, the silence returned. But this time, it was that of shock and total confusion. What had just happened, and why had several of the applicants just fallen unconscious?

"What in the hell…?" Pan's small brown eyes widened with shock. It seemed he was not the only one who was in such a state. The entire arena was dead silent and many of the students seemed confused about what had happened.

"There." Minyet suddenly whispered, pointing to someone on the combat grounds. "He did it."

"What are you talking about? Who did what?"

"Quiescence. It's one of the three forms of essence oppression. How powerful is he to use quiescence on so many people at once."

"Look. He just revealed his soul armos. Damn, how large is that axe?" Pan exclaimed, completely oblivious to what Minyet had said.

Pan and Minyet watched in horror as an abnormally large axe materialized in the hands of one of the applicants while a deep sea of green essence surrounded him like green flames. This green essence was deeper and brighter than Ovandarrak's and Pan's green essence. Then the axe wielder, with one powerful arm, swung the axe towards Savyrran as if the axe weighed nothing at all.

While Pan and Minyet almost jumped out of their seats as they watched helplessly while someone attacked Savyrran, Ovandarrak sat still, observing what was going on. Then an idea suddenly struck Ovandarrak, causing a wry smile to form on his face.

"Oh, that boy." Ovandarrak suddenly said. "I didn't know he would hold a grudge."

"What, you know him?" Pan asked. "Did you and your sister do something to him. Because clearly, he is trying to kill her, and you don't even look worried."

Ovandarrak laughed coldly sending a chilling fear into both Pan and Minyet at the same time. Then without missing a beat, he said, "he is trying to kill himself."

…....….

As soon as the bell rang to signify the beginning of the match, Savyrran, just like everyone else simply stood still. Her reason was that she was not going to attack anyone unless they attacked her first. But she did not have to wait long, for suddenly, many of the applicants just fell to the floor, unconscious.

It was like they had just dropped dead. Only about a few dozen of them remained standing like nothing had happened. Savyrran frowned slightly, completely confused about what had just happened. But she did not have the time to think about it anymore since she suddenly felt that killing intent directed towards her again.

The boy who had been glaring at her all that while suddenly revealed his deep green essence while a gigantic axe materialized in his left hand.

The moment the other applicants realised that someone had made a move, everyone else revealed their own essence and soul armos and began to fight the person nearest them. Savyrran on the other hand, stood still, her deep black eyes fixated on the axe wielder, like a hawk. She knew without a doubt that this boy wanted to fight her, as she saw the intense fury burning in his green eyes. Nevertheless, Savyrran did not know why the boy was so hellbent on fighting her. She strongly believed that it was not just because this was a battle royale. This had to be more than that.

For a moment, Savyrran wondered if the young man was responsible for making the others unconscious. Although Savyrran could not feel it, she knew that was a form of essence oppression, quiescence. Master Bufan had mastery over this same technique.

Savyrran was finally whisked out of her day dream when she saw the boy swinging his massive axe towards her. In a split second, Badisk appeared in Savyrran���s hand, clashing with the huge blade of the axe. A booming sound reverberated throughout the arena causing the ground to tremble slightly. Even some of the applicants lost their footing from the tremor. But the axe wielder and Savyrran were rooted to the ground, each one trying to best the other with sheer strength.

"You seem angry." Savyrran said in amusement while she came face to face with the boy, her sword pressing against the blade of the axe.

"You disrespectful brat. I'm going to teach you a lesson you will never forget."

"Oh… okay. But who are you though? Seriously, I have no idea who you are." But Savyrran's genuine words only made the young man angrier, causing his essence to flare widely like a mighty green inferno.

He pushed against Savyrran's sword with all of his might, and for a moment, he was surprised at how equally strong Savyrran was even though she was not using her essence.

Though Savyrran had an easy smile on her face, she could not help but be amazed at how strong the boy was. It was almost like the boy was a little stronger than she was. Finally, they both managed to push each other apart, but the force that emanated from the push was so powerful that it knocked everyone else right into the invisible wall surrounding the combat grounds.

In fact, no one would have noticed the invisible wall if the mighty force did not make some small cracks appear within it.

…....

"Did the air just crack?" Pan's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, when he saw how the clash between Savyrran and the axe wielder had cracked the surrounding space like a cracked glass.

"I think it's an invisible boundary." Ovandarrak muttered to himself. Then he directed his attention towards the Vice Head of the Combat School. If anyone had the power to do this, it was certainly Master Koo Minchii. Ovandarrak had heard from Captain Jarjaha how Master Minchii's soul armos was used in the Soul Recovery School trials. Perhaps, it was been used in this very trials. No wonder none of the powerful attack was leaving the combat grounds.

It was like the combat ground was contained in a vacuum and sealed by an invisible wall. However, the invisible was starting to become visible due to the cracks forming within it.

"How is Savyrran blocking that huge axe?" Pan could not believe what he was watching. Even with such a thin weak looking sword, Savyrran was still blocking the giant axe with ease. For a moment, Pan wondered if Ovandarrak had been serious when he said Savyrran was stronger than him. That should be the case, after all, the boy Savyrran was fighting had an evolved soul armos.

This was why the boy's essence was brighter, deeper and more abundant than his and Ovandarrak's combined. If Savyrran was fighting evenly with a person like that, then didn't that mean that she was stronger than him too?

"Hey, Minyet." Pan began. "Do you think Savyrran can beat that boy?"

After a while of not hearing Minyet say anything, Pan called her again. But he soon realised that the girl was standing, while her eyes held some strong emotions Pan was not sure about. Minyet, bit her lips, and clenched her trembling fists.

"Minyet." For a moment, Pan's eyes softened. He had no idea what was wrong with the red-haired girl, but he could see that Minyet's eyes were fixated on Savyrran's black sword.

Pan lightly tapped Minyet on the shoulder until he finally garnered her attention.

"What's wrong? You seem shocked by something?"

"Oh… It's… It's nothing." Minyet sat back down.

"Are you sure? Your hands are trembling." Ovandarrak added. He had noticed the change in Minyet's behaviour as soon as Savyrran released her sword.

"It's none of your business, okay." Minyet spat out impatiently. She slowly rubbed her palms and then ran her hand in her thick curly red-hair tied in a pony-tail.

Ovandarrak's calm expressionless face remained unchanged, and without saying a word, he simply went back to watching the endless clash between Savyrran and the boy they had met at the academy's gate. It was the same boy who got mad at them for ignoring him before the gates of the academy were opened. From the way he had acted, Ovandarrak could tell that the boy was from an important family and was not not used to people ignoring him like that. No wonder the boy was so infuriated with Savyrran.

Minyet breathed in and out slowly, until she felt her emotions coming back to normal. She had not meant to be rude to Ovandarrak and for a moment, she hated herself for almost losing control. It was just that she had not expected to see that sword here, and in the hands of Savyrran. How was that even possible?

"I'm sorry." Minyet finally said. "Ovandarrak."

"It's alright." Ovandarrak did not take his eyes of the combat grounds. Perhaps, Minyet was right. This was really none of his business. If Minyet wanted them to know what had happened, she would tell them herself.

"Well, I don't think it's alright. What just happened to you? It was like you had just seen a ghost." Pan asked, and as Minyet looked into his eyes, she could tell that the boy was being sincere.

Minyet smiled bitterly. She really did not know how to tell them this. She was not sure if she even trusted them to bring it up. She suddenly thought of something. "Ovandarrak, where did your sister get her sword from?"

Ovandarrak who had not expected to be asked such a question, raised his brows suspiciously. Why was Minyet suddenly interested in Badisk? Nonetheless, he told Minyet that it was Savyrran's master who had given the sword to her as a gift when she was six years old.

"Master Bufan… Six years old." Minyet muttered to herself. Six years old. That was nine years ago. The name Bufan was all too familiar to her. All the evidence was there. That sword was definitely the thirteenth Soulmate, or what outsiders usually called the Arms of Agnorah.

"Why do you ask?" Ovandarrak asked. He did not want to pry, but since Minyet had asked about his sister's sword, he had no choice but to make it his business. Savyrran's business was his business.

"Well…nothing much. It's just that, that sword must be powerful to stop such a big axe."

As Ovandarrak studied the girl's freckled face, he could tell Minyet was hiding something, but of course, he said nothing.